Supplemental feeding of wild game has become a common practice among outdoorsmen. In an effort to improve animal health as well as animal numbers, more and more people who hunt have engaged in supplementing the normal food sources found in the wild. By providing feed such as various grains and minerals year-round, numerous species of animals can be attracted to an area (feeding site).
Animal feeders are commonly used by outdoorsmen to distribute feed to attract wild game into a particular outdoor area. These animal feeders must typically be transported to the feeding site and set-up. Often times an outdoorsman will place more than one feeder to cover a particular hunting area. Larger or more bulky feeders are more inconvenient to use, as they require vehicles with substantial capacity to transport or more than one trip to move to a feeding site of interest. During the period of time that the animal feeder is being used, the user must regularly re-visit the feeding site to monitor food levels and replenish animal feed as needed. Once on site, in order to determine the status of the feed supply contained in the animal feeder, the user must often remove the covers or hatches or other parts of the animal feeder, or otherwise partially disassemble the animal feeder, in order to conduct a visual inspection of the feed storage compartment of the animal feeder.
Wild game animals are very sensitive to smells and can easily detect the scent of a human being. Typically, when a wild game animal does detect the scent of a human its' natural response is to flee and stay away from the area in which the scent was detected. For this reason, it is in the outdoorsman's best interest to have as little contact with the animal feeder and/or the area where the animal feeder is located.
A number of known animal feeders exist. These feeders are designed to hold and distribute animal feed at a given feeding site over a period of time typically defined by how long the animal feed supply lasts. In order to avoid a user having to make frequent trips to the feeder to refill its contents, typical feeders are configured to be large enough to hold enough feed to last a extended period of time. As result, they are large and bulky and typically difficult to transport. They also require substantial amount of space to store when the feeder is not in use.
The typical feeder has no provisions for perpetual dispensing of feed. Thus it is necessary for a user to replenish the feeder with animal feed on a regular basis. This requires the user to visit the feeding site at which the animal feeder is located to see if the animal feeder is running low or has run out of animal feed supply.
Supplemental feeding of wild game has become a common practice among outdoorsmen. In an effort to improve animal health as well as increase animal numbers, more and more people who hunt are engaged in supplementing the normal food sources for animals found in the wild. By feeding various grains and minerals year-round, numerous species of animals can be attracted for hunting purposes.
In order to carry out supplemental feeding of wild game, numerous known feeding devices have been proposed. These feeding devices include gravity feeders, trough feeders and tripod feeders.
Gravity Feeders typically include a large container that includes one or more openings at or near the bottom of the container. Feed is placed into the container where in then is free to pass down thru the opening and out onto the ground where it is accessible to wildlife. Some examples of gravity type feeders have been described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,941,506 to Fulton. These feeders are typically large and bulky and band not easy to transport, move or otherwise store. Further, in order to determine when feed needs to be replenished, it is necessary to visit the feeding site of the feeder to make visual inspection at close range. This may also require at least partial disassembly of the feeder in order to access the fill holes.
Trough Feeders are typically configured as an open tub or trough like container that is placed on or above the ground and in a position that makes feed placed in the trough easily accessible to wildlife. In order to keep the feed dry, trough like feeders may provide for a shelter structure, such as, for example, a roof to shield the trough from rain and other elements. In order to provide enough feed for wildlife, the trough must be configured of sufficient size. This typically translates into a large and bulky structure that is not easy to transport, move or otherwise store. Further, in order to determine when feed needs to be replenished, it is necessary to visit the feeding site of the trough to make visual inspection at close range.
Tripod or Suspended Feeders typically include a drum-like container that is attached to, and supported at a predetermined level above the ground, by a tripod or other support system. The drum like container typically includes a hole near the bottom of the container that allows feed to pour from the container and onto a spinner plate. The spinner plate can be activated by a timed, motorized system so as to rotate the spinner plate for a predetermined period of time. When the spinner plate rotates, any feed on the plate is tossed from the spinner plate and onto the ground within a predetermined radius of the feeder. The timed distribution of feed aids the conditioning of wild life to feed when the feed is available. The motorized system is typically powered via a battery system which requires periodic replacement/recharging. These types of feeders are typically suspended at least eight feet in the air so as to maximize the area that can be covered by the feeder when feed is spin from the spinner plate. Determining whether or not the drum of the tripod feeder needs to be replenished with feed typically requires that the outdoorsman climb to the top of the suspended drum and/or, to partially disassemble the feeder so that the drum may be lowered to the ground for inspection/replenishment.